Quite often, successful small businesses were born out of a necessity. This is also the case for CitySlips, a New York City-based brand which is nationally known for its compact and convenient line of footwear.
Both standing at 5’2″ tall, Susie Levitt and Katie Shea, both college friends, like to wear high heels. However, as living in the NYC involves a lot of walking, wearing high heels is not practical, not mentioning the pain walking in the pair. To solve the problem, they need to carry flat shoes around; unfortunately, it’s often impractical.
The problem leads Susie and Katie to co-found FUNK-tional Enterprises and create CitySlips, allowing people to wear high heels while bringing compact and convenient footwear to switch when needed.
CitySlips are foldable shoes and fit in a small pouch for easy-carrying. The best part is when you switch from your high heels to flats, the pouch can be easily transformed into a bag for you to carry your high heels inside.
CitySlips products can be found in major retailers like Dillard’s Department Stores, Bed Bath & Beyond stores, Macy’s, Neiman Marcus and so on.
So, how do they do it?
As they want to keep costs low, they shop around online, looking for manufacturers overseas which are able to transform their ideas into great shoes. As Katie has some experience working with Alibaba.com, they start their search from the site.
Susie mentioned that the greatest perk of working with an International Trade Site like Alibaba.com is the ability to get things done right in their college dorm room; they don’t need to travel overseas to manufacture their shoes, saving them tens of thousands of dollar every year.
They have found success – what’s next?
In the apparel industry, companies need to continuously developing new products – this also holds true for CitySlips. They continue to develop new line of products, such as lightweight travel rainboots which can be folded and put into a carrying bag, foldable flipflop, and so on.
Takeaway
Firstly, the golden rule of entrepreneurial success is to build a business which solves a problem. When you solve a problem which is yet to be solved, chances are, success will find you, not the other way around.
CitySlips solve a problem for women who like to travel by foot by offering a convenient way to bring another footwear – e.g. flat shoes and rainboots – to replace their high heels when needed.
Secondly, product differentiation is the key to a continuous business growth. CitySlips solve more problems by developing new line of products.
Do you have any points worth noted watching the CitySlips video? Please share yours…
